Why Not Fly To A Cruise?

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Please humor this honest question from an American cousin: why do British cruisers resist flying to the ship? Flights from Britain are dirt-cheap [compared to our need to fly across the pond], and the seas from Southampton across the Bay of Biscay are notoriously chancy. We will be sailing with Noble Caledonia next year and appreciate the ease of just getting ourselves to London and letting them take over from there, so I understand the logic, somewhat – but I prefer to avoid notoriously rough areas like the Bay of Biscay, the Tasman Sea, and the Drake Passage...

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Ease of travel in our case - and restrictions on luggage weight if you fly. Airports are a nightmare these days, and simply boarding a ship in the UK is so much easier. Offload the cases from the car, and that's that. Laziness, in a way, but as you get older it becomes increasingly attractive.

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I think many people do both- we've flown to the Caribbean and also to ports in the Med, but we prefer leaving the country by ship, especially when you can take what you want with you! As for the BoB - we must have been through it 20+ times, and I only remember it being really rough twice... which I enjoyed!

Also, our preferred ships these days only sail out of the UK.

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Please humor this honest question from an American cousin: why do British cruisers resist flying to the ship? Flights from Britain are dirt-cheap [compared to our need to fly across the pond], and the seas from Southampton across the Bay of Biscay are notoriously chancy. We will be sailing with Noble Caledonia next year and appreciate the ease of just getting ourselves to London and letting them take over from there, so I understand the logic, somewhat – but I prefer to avoid notoriously rough areas like the Bay of Biscay, the Tasman Sea, and the Drake Passage...

I have cruised all of those notorious stretches of water, I must say that perhaps I am lucky.

We had a reasonable crossing of the Drake passage going to Antarctica and a calm one back.

We have gone across the Tasman sea over ten times and only had it rough twice and the Bay of Biscay a few times with no rough weather.

The Bass strait around 16 times and only rough 3 times and the Northern sea 6 times and only rough once.

In any case sometimes it can be rough and other times like glass.

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Please humor this honest question from an American cousin: why do British cruisers resist flying to the ship? Flights from Britain are dirt-cheap [compared to our need to fly across the pond], and the seas from Southampton across the Bay of Biscay are notoriously chancy.

I love flying and also sailing. 35 years ago I helped crew a friend's 30 footer from Shoreham Essex, across the Bay of Biscay to La Caruna Spain. Not much wind and we motor-sailed most of the way. Got lucky, I guess :) .

1st August we'll be taking Explorer 2 from Newcastle Docks to Iceland and Norway via Scotland and Shetland Isles. I'll be flying to Newcastle from Exeter on the South coast on one of those Dash 8 turbo-props. Love these small aircraft, great fun, part of the holiday and it only takes 1 hour 15 mins direct.

My wife on the other hand, has decided to go N Express coach. She says the £70 saved will be worth it !! The coach goes due East, with changes at Plymouth and London, before heading North. Total time including stops, is about 13 hours - totally crazy ...

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Flying - pro's get to have more port time further afield - and P&O are now offering more med fly as well as caribbean.

con's - less luggage - i still have to drive to airport get hotel ect - all adds to cost. Have a 5yr old boy.. to be fair we took him to Caribbean TA back last year - he was pretty good for his first flight.. Cost the fly to med option in 2021 instead of what we have booked was 1800 more exp for the 3 of us.

Sail from southampton - Pro's - drive down parking reasonable , tends to be cheaper than fly. Luggage more flexible. drive home 3hrs after a good sleep night before far easier.

Cons - limited itineraries - med, canaries , norway, iceland , baltic, british isles.. done canaries now - west med twice soon to be 3, norway. to be fair i like the cruise holiday so would like to do ones i haven't done and happy to go back and do them again especially to norway too..

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Sail from southampton - Pro's - drive down parking reasonable , tends to be cheaper than fly. Luggage more flexible. drive home 3hrs after a good sleep night before far easier.

Cons - limited itineraries - med, canaries , norway, iceland , baltic, british isles.. done canaries now - west med twice soon to be 3, norway. to be fair i like the cruise holiday so would like to do ones i haven't done and happy to go back and do them again especially to norway too..

Con's. It's 3 weeks cruise and we only have 2 weeks available (wife is still working).

Incidentally, if anyone is thinking of flying small Regional (Flybe, Loganair,Ryanair etc) ParcelForce will send a 23KG suitcase for about £12 each way. Hotel will accept PF delivery but I'm not sure whether cruise-terminals will ? I've read conflicting reports on this.

Con's. It's 3 weeks cruise and we only have 2 weeks available (wife is still working).

Incidentally, if anyone is thinking of flying small Regional (Flybe, Loganair,Ryanair etc) ParcelForce will send a 23KG suitcase for about £12 each way. Hotel will accept PF delivery but I'm not sure whether cruise-terminals will ? I've read conflicting reports on this.

That cruise I would love to do. Will have to wait until I'm retired thou - don't get enough days hols to do that now. Until then a 14 night to Iceland will have to do..

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We do both, I hate flying but accept it as a means to an end. Now we are retired we take more longer cruises 30+ nights so find cruising from the UK convenient and without luggage restrictions. For cruises further afield we just fly.

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We've flown long haul to various places in the far east for about 25 years. Unfortunately flying back home from Borneo my husband had a panic attack during the flight. Never had one before, never had one since, however he now refuses to fly again. We then discovered the wonders of cruising. We love to be at sea and without the stress of flying. Total calm and relaxation from leaving the house to returning.

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2 days last year,Iceland to Dublin in a force 10.The dancers still put on their production show.Worst bit was when my wine slid across the table,emptied over my tux before smashing on the floor.Only consulation,it was white and we were all inclusive,lol.

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Joking aside,the Captain was brilliant,he put the ship at a particular angle to reduce movement.He also ducked behind a group of Scottish islands to get a little more shelter.Only a few hours late for Dublin and that was only cos we missed our tidal slot.

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Main reason for not flying is luggage restrictions. We're doing Barcelona to Dubai this year, so we have to fly. We get 25kg on the outbound flight ( more inbound but that's irrelevant.) We're on board for 21 nights!

We've decided to fly into Barcelona a day early and buy all the consumables (toiletries, suncream etc) in Spain to free up more clothing space.

(Paying for just one extra 25kg bag would add something silly like $700 to the costs)

Edited March 3 by Sancho_proudfoot

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Main reason for not flying is luggage restrictions. We're doing Barcelona to Dubai this year, so we have to fly. We get 25kg on the outbound flight ( more inbound but that's irrelevant.) We're on board for 21 nights!

We've decided to fly into Barcelona a day early and buy all the consumables (toiletries, suncream etc) in Spain to free up more clothing space.

(Paying for just one extra 25kg bag would add something silly like $700 to the costs)

I would have thought 25 kg each would be more than enough for a 21 day cruise, especially with judicious use of the ship's laundry. We managed an 18 night cruise, plus 4 nights pre and another 4 nights post cruise stays with 22kg each. 25kg is pure luxury!

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I would have thought 25 kg each would be more than enough for a 21 day cruise, especially with judicious use of the ship's laundry. We managed an 18 night cruise, plus 4 nights pre and another 4 nights post cruise stays with 22kg each. 25kg is pure luxury!

Not for us! We like to dress formally on the requisite nights and be smart casual on others, plus our day wear, shore wear, pool wear. From Southampton we usually have 3 cases and 2 carry one.

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Not for us! We like to dress formally on the requisite nights and be smart casual on others, plus our day wear, shore wear, pool wear. From Southampton we usually have 3 cases and 2 carry one.

I suppose it also depends where the cruise is visiting. Caribbean cruises means just shorts and tee shirts during the day, chinos and polo shirts at night. My tuxedo weighs next to nothing. However, we are all different. I barely own enough clothes to fill a suitcase anyway!